Tradition and Superstition

In the Saints of Lost Things, during the hurricane, Betsy burns the fronds of palm branches that have been blessed the previous Palm Sunday. This is a fairly common tradition in south Louisiana and other places as well.
Every place has its own set of traditions to one degree or another. Thursday, in the South, most of us will have black-eyed peas for luck in the New Year, and cabbage for wealth in the New Year. This tradition/superstition goes back a long way.
Seriously, I doubt that burning palm leaves will keep a limb off your house or keep you from being blown away by a storm. And the likelihood is low that eating black-eyed peas and cabbage on New Year's Day will improve our fortunes in the New Year.
But these things bind us together; these traditions that we all do are part of our culture. They're part of what makes us, us. And that's reason enough.